Greetings from Nisku, Alberta, Canada
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From the travels and adventures of the
“World’s #1 Trackchaser”
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Castrol Raceway
Dirt oval
Lifetime Track #1,200
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Castrol Raceway
Asphalt road course
Lifetime Track #2,009
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THE EVENT Today’s undertaking was just one of more than 2,000 trips that have taken me up, down and around the long and dusty trackchasing trail. If you would like to see where I’ve been and experience those adventures here’s the link: If you’ve got a question, comment or whatever please leave it at the bottom of this report. It’s very easy to do. I’ll try my best to respond. Thanks! One day of racechasing followed by one day of trackchasing at the Castrol Raceway. In this report I’ll tell you about my re-visit to the Castrol Raceway’s dirt oval. I first went there in 2007. On that day some years ago I made an afternoon trackchasing visit to the Race City Motorsports Park in Calgary. Then in the early evening I watched the racing at the Edmonton International Raceway in Wetaskiwin, Alberta. I capped off that evening with a rain-delayed sprint car event at the Castrol Raceway dirt oval. In 2014 I returned to the Castrol Raceway for what might be my last chance to see Steve Kinser in his final year of full-time World of Outlaws sprint car competition. The next day I returned to see racing on the new road course at the Castrol Raceway facility. TODAY’S HEADLINES I started out as a “one grandstand, one track” type of trackchaser. Why did that change? …….details in “The Strategy.” First trackchaser to see 1,200 tracks!……..details in “Summary of ‘century’ trackchasing achievements” Note I am receiving some interesting “Sports Spectating Resumes.” Please send me yours. I will publish them all soon. Hello from Alberta. Greetings from Calgary, Alberta and then Wetaskiwin, Alberta and finally, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada This evening I saw my 1,200th lifetime racetrack. Below is a list of when and where I saw other “Century” mark tracks. SUMMARY OF “CENTURY” TRACKCHASING ACHIEVEMENTS # 100 – Red River Valley Speedway, West Fargo, ND (Sammy Swindell – winner) – July 13, 1981 # 200 – Sumter Rebel Speedway, Sumter, SC – March 28, 1992 # 300 – Brownstown Speedway, Brownstown, IN (Billy Moyer – winner) – April 19, 1997 – # 400 – Barren County Speedway, Glasgow, KY – October 1, 1999 # 500 – Freedom Raceway, Delevan, NY – July, 27, 2001 # 600 – Trail-Way Speedway (figure 8 course), Hanover, PA – July 20, 2002 # 700 – Thunder Alley Park, Evans Mills, NY – April 22, 2004 # 800 – Five Flags Speedway, Pensacola, FL – December 3, 2004 #900 – I-96 Speedway (inner oval), Lake Odessa, MI – July 15, 2005 # 1,000 – Auburndale Kartway, Auburndale, Florida – February 10, 2006 # 1,100 – Cambridge Fair, Cambridge, Ontario, Canada – September 9, 2006 # 1,200 – Castrol Raceway, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada – June 3, 2007 I had this to say after track #900. On the occasion of my 900th track, I wrote the following. I don’t think I can add much to those words. “Today is a special day – #900. I am happy about that. I would like to thank everyone who has supported me or shown an interest in my trackchasing hobby. Special thanks go to Carol for being so tolerant of my obsession. She is a smart woman and recognizes that it is a good idea to let me pursue my hobbies from time to time. Also, thank you to all of the trackchasers who have provided me information and support along the way (you know who you are) and to those trackchasers who have motivated me through other methods (you know who you are).” I’ll add a special thanks to Guy Smith for inventing, if you will, the entire trackchaser concept. I’ll also offer special thanks to Trackchaser commissioner Will White for formalizing the trackchaser statistics, which make the hobby even more fun. It took me 52 ½ years to see my first 500 tracks. At that point, I told the boys at the golf club that I would be cutting back on my trackchasing. I missed that one by a bunch! In the following 6 years, I have added another 700 tracks. Most people would never have expected that, including me. I offer my apologies to readers who signed up some 400 or 500 tracks ago or more. Maybe you thought these emails would cease, or at least become less frequent, as time went on. I hope you received some entertainment value and maybe even a cost-saving tip or two. If you have, then it’s all been worth it for me. I woke up in Boise, Idaho this morning. I went to sleep in Wetaskiwin, Alberta, Canada. This is what transpired today. PEOPLE/STRATEGY/TRAVEL NEWS The Strategy Strategy is all important in trackchasing. One of the best ways to increase your track totals is to see two or more tracks in one day. This is called a “trackchasing double.” In the past, I have explained what the various kinds of trackchasing doubles are. In today’s modern trackchasing world, I am probably the leader in getting trackchasing doubles. It has not always been that way. I believe I first became aware of the trackchaser group via Will White in 1999. Records show that I was the third person to join the trackchaser email group back on January 18, 2000. Before I joined the group, I was a “one grandstand, one track” type of trackchaser. I did not count both an inner oval and an outer oval at one location. I did not count one oval that changed surfaces from dirt to asphalt or vice versa as more than one track. Prior to becoming aware of the trackchasers group in 1999, I had seen 367 different racetracks. I had never been to a freestanding figure 8 race in my life! I had only been to six road courses out of my 367 lifetime tracks. It would be easy to define my trackchasing for the first 50 years of my life. I went to oval tracks. I only counted one track at each facility I went too. I never went back to an oval track just because it changed its racing surface from asphalt to dirt or the other way around for the purpose of adding to my totals. Then in 1999 and 2000, I began to learn about how other trackchasers were adding to their career trackchasing totals. The trackchasing rules were developed in the late 90s. I had zero involvement in that process. By the time I came along the main rules were already set up. From the start of my trackchasing all the way through 1998, I saw just nine trackchasing doubles. That’s nine doubles out of 367 total tracks. I believe every one of those was a day/night double. Usually I was going to a NASCAR race in the afternoon and I would then go to a local show at night. As I got more and more into trackchasing, I noticed the other trackchasers were adding to their trackchasing totals in ways I had never even considered. They were getting “doubles” at two different tracks in one evening. I had never done that or even thought to do it. They were going back to see a track again, simply because the track had changed its racing surface. These folks were going to road courses. My road course racing experience (6) primarily included races I had been invited too or NASCAR tracks. If I was going to advance in the standings, I was going to have to learn from my fellow trackchasers. As I gained some experience, I began to change my “one grandstand one track” trackchasing mentality. I read the rules the “old guard” trackchasers had developed. It wasn’t long before I was starting to gain ground at a rapid pace. A few old-timers in trackchasing became alarmed. Here was a new trackchaser on the scene, using their rules and beginning to advance up through the ranks of the worldwide trackchasing standings. I probably called the trackchaser commissioner more than any other trackchaser seeking rulings, in advance, on tracks I was considering attending. If I got positive feedback from the commissioner, I went forward with my plans. If I didn’t then I went somewhere else. Now I am a veteran of the trackchasing process. I have long ago put away my “one grandstand, one track” method of counting tracks. I have totally converted to full adherence to all rules, regulations and rulings within the hobby. The best outcome of everyone playing by a common set of rules is that it makes comparing one trackchaser’s totals to another easier to do. Everyone is working off the same sheet of music, so to speak. As time goes by and a trackchaser’s totals increase, it can become more difficult to get a trackchasing double. Tracks need to be somewhat close together geographically in order for a double to work. The tracks have to be racing on the same day. The weather has to cooperate. Doubles aren’t easy. Nevertheless, one of my trackchasing strategies is to see as many new tracks as I can. Doubles are a great way to achieve that strategy. To date, I have seen 62 new tracks during 45 days of trackchasing in 2007. That means I’ve seen 17 trackchasing doubles this year. I think that’s pretty good planning. I have only my fellow trackchasers to thank for this. If they had not established the practice of seeing doubles to increase their track totals, I never would have thought of the idea! The Trip I’m enjoyed my time traveling around Alberta. This part of Canada is relatively flat but not totally flat. I’m not seeing the beautiful snow-covered mountains that Carol and I enjoyed last week in British Columbia and in Western Alberta. The People I continue to believe that the Canadian racing people I have met are some of the best. I very much enjoy my trackchasing in Canada. RACE TRACK STATS: RACE CITY MOTORSPORTS PARK (ROAD COURSE), CALGARY, ALBERTA, CANADA – TRACK #1,198 EDMONTON INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY, WETASKIWIN, ALBERTA, CANADA – TRACK #1,199 CASTROL RACEWAY, EDOMONTON, ALBERTA, CANADA – TRACK #1,200 Today I saw three tracks in Alberta, Canada. There were my second, third and fourth lifetime tracks to see in this Canadian province. I am happy to report that my four lifetime Alberta tracks moves me into the lead in this Western Canadian province. I have displaced the aforementioned Mr. Smith as well as Mr. Killian and Ms. Smith who were the previous Alberta leaders with three tracks. Only 12 trackchasers, including me, have ever come to Alberta. There have been only 19 track visits ever recorded in Alberta before this weekend. There are several countable tracks up here. I am surprised there has not been more trackchasing activity in this rugged area. RACE TRACK NEWS: RACE CITY MOTORSPORTS PARK (ROAD COURSE) Today’s road course racing event was probably the most disappointing of the five tracks I saw this weekend. The weather was beautiful but the racing and presentation wasn’t very good. The RCMP is a professional looking motorsport facility. They have a drag strip as well as a ½-mile paved oval. And in news never before released in the trackchasing community, they will have the return of figure 8 racing at this facility in 2007. However, I was here to see racing on their road course today. As is often the case with facilities that focus on oval track and drag strip racing, the road racing seems to be a total afterthought. There was no announcer and therefore the P.A. system was not being used. The regular concession area was not open and only a few of the facility’s restroom were open for use. My first impression was of being bitten when I entered the paddock area. Yes, Canada’s mosquitoes were giving my bare legs a northern welcome. I saw feature events run by an open wheel class (about 8 entrants) and a sports car/stock car run by some 20+ racers. While these boys, and maybe girls, were racing on the road course, there was activity on the oval. About eight legends were holding some form of school on the oval. If you’ve ever seen the Rocky Mountain Raceways in Salt Lake, this layout is nearly identical. The road course used the straight portions of the drag strip and parallel return strip for 80% of the length of the track. The cars take the checker near the beginning of the drag strip starting point. They race down to the end of the drag strip (which is nearly out of sight) and then do some turns that are, for the most part out of sight, before returning on a straight path, both parallel and in the opposite direction of where they started on the drag strip. They finish up with a big sweeping left hand turn, again out of sight from the drag strip grandstand, before returning to the starting line. With no P.A. to explain anything about the program and mosquitoes nipping at the RANLAY, two races were all I needed to see. I believe that all the cars in the paddock area raced in these two races. Overall, I was glad to get this track behind me, although pleased to have somewhere to trackchase on a Saturday afternoon. The road course is used for four weekends each season according to the track’s website at http://www.racecity.com/. EDMONTON INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY From my road course outing in Calgary, I headed north to Wetaskiwin, Alberta, Canada. The Edmonton International Speedway would be the second half of my day/night trackchasing double. This was my seventh such double of the 17 doubles I have in ’07. This track is a tight little quarter-mile asphalt oval. There were a few things I found that were out of the ordinary. First, there was a sign near the ticket booth that read, “Distribution of complimentary tickets on raceway grounds is strictly prohibited.” I guess they didn’t want free tickets that the track had given away, eating into the tickets they were selling the night of the event. The entire grandstand is one big wooden structure. The announcer reminded everyone that a “no smoking in the grandstand policy” was in effect! The track also pits their racecars inside the oval. There were no problems with blocking the view of the racetrack because the cars were parked there. I love it when the racing machines are pitted in the infield. This adds to what the spectator gets to see. My first stop was to the concession stand. Just before I reached the stand, I noticed several employees spraying each other with insect repellant. Ouch! I had left my bug spray on the floor of our master bedroom. I had French Fries doused in brown gravy. The gravy costs 50 cents extra. What’s wrong with eating fat smothered in more fat? It tasted good. There was one more unusual part of tonight’s competition. They were racing motorcycles. The bikes raced on part of the asphalt oval and part of the dirt infield. The configuration made this a mixed road course race surface. They even had some minor jumps. Unfortunately, for trackchasing purposes, they didn’t race cars on this configuration. There were three stock car classes racing tonight. They had 16 thunder cars, 12 late models, and about 16 claimers. There were very few yellow flags for spins on the perfectly clear 80-degree evening. The racing program started at 6 p.m. There were two heats for the Thunder cars and the claimers. The late models ran just one set of heats, but had two feature events. It was only 7:29 p.m. when the first 40-lap late model feature event took to the track with 10 cars taking the green flag. This race was pretty mediocre and finished at 7:43 p.m. I looked beyond the grandstand to the north. It looked like rain up there. Why was I looking north anyway? The Castrol Raceway was racing about 30 miles from the track I was at. If they weren’t rained out, Castrol could be the second half of a blended double with features. It was worth a try. If I could add the Castrol Raceway to my list, it would be my 1,200 lifetime track. I looked toward the skies. I needed a sign. Just at that point, a very colorful rainbow appeared. I had gotten my sign. I was headed to the north. CASTROL RACEWAY (OVAL) I pulled into the parking lot of the Calgary Raceway at about 8:30 p.m., maybe a few minutes later. It doesn’t get dark up here until around 10 p.m. There was still plenty of daylight available. This placed looked like they had just received a good deal of rain. Nevertheless, there was a huge crowd in the grandstands overlooking this 3/8-mile banked dirt oval. They were still selling tickets, so they weren’t rained out. I parked my car in a strategic spot and walked into what would be a trackchaser record-breaking 1,200th track. The woman at the ticket booth told me they had been delayed “about an hour” with the rain. Another internet source, told that the rain delay had been two hours and twenty minutes. Whatever, when I arrived the Alberta Sprint Tour sprinters were completing time trials. By now the weather in the immediate vicinity was clear. From what I could tell there had been no countable racing before the rains came. I lingered at the track’s souvenir trailer. Even though I have more event t-shirts than I will ever wear in my lifetime, I needed to buy something to commemorate my 1,200th lifetime track. They had a beautiful and multi-colored heavy duty jacket for the princely some of $150 Canadian. Of course, it was priced in Canadian currency since I was in Canada! The saleswoman put the heavy sell on me. I think if she had offered to negotiate the price even a little bit she would have had a sale. The coat was probably overpriced, but it was nice. Nevertheless, I am simply a pensioner living on a small fixed income, or something like that and I passed. I did end up buying an overpriced “Castrol Raceway” t-shirt for $30 (about $28 U.S.). From there I went into the grandstands. This is a high quality dirt track oval facility with an accompanying drag strip on the property. A huge sign at the track’s entry states, “Castrol Raceway Park voted the No 1 track – 2006.” The track’s website says, “Castrol Raceway is reputed to be one of the top 10 small track facilities in North America.” It might be. They also say they have a road course under construction. There must have been 2,000-3,000 spectators. I always have a tough time estimating how many people are in the stands. They had a nice field of late models on hand as well as five stock cars. They also offered two classes of sprint cars. I met the track’s announcer. He was most impressed with my trackchasing efforts. He gave me a nice 1,200th track mention over the P.A. He also gave me a racing hat to help me celebrate the evening. The winged sprint cars were extremely fast. They were just like the World of Outlaws. They were so fast they couldn’t pass each other. This resulted in follow the leader sprint car racing. The limited sprint division provided better racing. Their reigning champion was a woman driver. She won tonight’s feature event, which is most unusual in this class of racing. During the evening, the announcer told the crowd that the Ottawa Senators had just defeated the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim in Ottawa. This news got a huge positive reaction from the crowd! From the point I arrived at the track, I noticed some storm clouds far off in the distance beyond turn three. As time went by, I could see that rain was coming from those clouds. The clouds were getting closer. Finally, at 10:30 p.m. when the sportsman sprint feature was nearly completed, the rain started to fall. These were big drops of rain. The crowd began to leave the grandstand like rats deserting a ship. I was one of them! The Castrol Raceway will long hold a special place in my trackchasing heart. It was my 1,200th track. It was the second half of a blended double with features, my 17th trackchasing double of 2007. I saw three new tracks today. The last one put me into uncharted trackchasing territory. I guess the rainbow I saw upon leaving the Edmonton International Raceway was the sign I was looking for! WEATHER CONDITIONS It was warm and sunny during the day and early evening. Then as I headed north and the evening aged, the wet stuff came in. Nevertheless, the weather didn’t cause any major problems. RENTAL CAR UPDATE Calgary, Alberta – Saturday/Sunday I drove this car just 791 kilometers or 494 miles. I paid an average price of $3.96 per gallon. My Pontiac Grand Prix gave me 29.8 M.P.G. in fuel mileage at a cost of 13.3 cents per mile. The car cost 16.3 cents per mile to rent, all taxes included. Boise, ID – Friday/Saturday I drove this car just 32.5 miles. I paid an average price of $3.33 per gallon. I actually added just a gallon or so of gas, so the rental car company (Thrifty) would not try to charge me a minimum gas fee for cars driven a small number of miles. My Chrysler Sebring, under these fueling conditions, gave my 30.7 M.P.G. in fuel mileage at a cost of 10.9 cents per mile. The car cost 6.2 cents per mile to rent, all taxes included. LIFETIME TRACKCHASER STANDINGS UPDATE: These worldwide trackchasers are within 100 tracks (plus or minus) of my current trackchaser total. * Warning, you are within 50 tracks of being removed from this list. ** Special exemption. LIFETIME NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC DIVERSITY STANDINGS 2007 (current thru 5/14/07)** **Until the end of the year, NGD rankings are unofficial. Rankings are affected not only by the leader’s activities but also by other trackchasers impact on the leader’s position in each state. Other notables These worldwide trackchasers are within 10 tracks (plus or minus) of Carol’s current trackchaser total. There are no trackchasers within 10 tracks (either above or below) of Carol’s current total. 2007 TRACKCHASER STANDINGS Tracks have been reported by 34 different worldwide trackchasers this season. Thanks for reading about my trackchasing, Randy Lewis Alberta’s #1 Trackchaser If you’re lucky enough to live at the beach, you’re lucky enough. CUMULATIVE TRAVEL DISTANCES: AIRPLANE Orange County, CA – Salt Lake City, UT – 588 miles Salt Lake City, UT – Boise, ID – 290 miles RENTAL CAR – BOISE, ID Boise Air Terminal/Gowen Field – trip begins Boise, ID – 13 miles Boise Air Terminal/Gowen Field – 33 miles – trip ends AIRPLANE Boise, ID – Salt Lake City, UT – 290 miles Salt Lake City, UT – Calgary, Alberta, Canada – 721 miles RENTAL CAR – CALGARY Calgary International Airport – trip begins Calgary, Alberta – 16 miles Wetaskiwin, Alberta – 194 miles Edmonton, Alberta – 238 miles TRACK ADMSSION PRICES: Owyhee Motorcycle Raceway Park – $10 (included pit pass) Race City Motorsports Park (road course) – $5 Edmonton International Raceway – $10 Castrol Raceway – $15 UPCOMING TRACKCHASING PLANS I try to adhere to my policy of sending you no more than one Trackchaser Report per day. That is why you received one Trackchaser Report for today, Saturday, June 2, even though three new tracks were seen. I respect your time and don’t want to overload your email box! I will visit one more Alberta track before returning to my homeland. 1,139. Meremere Dirt Track Club, Meremere, New Zealand – January 1 1,140. Meeanee Speedway, Hawkes Bay, New Zealand – January 1 1,141. Top of the South Speedway, Richmond, New Zealand – January 2 1,142. Woodford Glen Speedway, Christchurch, New Zealand – January 3 1,143. Robertson Holden International Speedway, Palmerston North, New Zealand – January 5 1,144. Taupo Motorsports Park, Taupo, North, New Zealand – January 6 1,145. Waikaraka Park International Speedway, Auckland, New Zealand – January 6 1,146. Angels Stadium of Anaheim (inner oval), Anaheim, California – January 13 1,147. Angels Stadium of Anaheim (outer oval), Anaheim, California – January 13 1,148. West Valley Speedway, Surprise, Arizona – January 14 1,149. Sandia Motorsports Park (road course), Albuquerque, New Mexico – January 28 1,150. Grand Prix De Lanaudiere, Lavaltrie, Quebec, Canada – February 3 1,151. Ste-Eulalie Ice Track, Eulalie, Quebec, Canada – February 4 1,152. St Guillaume, St Guillaume, Quebec, Canada – February 4 1,153. Caldwell Rodeo Arena, Caldwell, Idaho – February 10 1,154. Balsam Lake Ice Track, Balsam Lake, Wisconsin – February 18 1,155. Northeast Pond Ice Track, Milton, New Hampshire – February 24 1,156. Lee Pond Ice Track, Moultonborough, New Hampshire – February 25 1,157. New Hendry Country Speedway, Clewiston, Florida – March 3 1,158. Florida Sports Park, Naples, Florida – March 4 1,159. Honeoye Lake Ice Track – Road Course, Honeoye, New York – March 10 1,160. Houston Raceway Park, Baytown, Texas – March 16 1,161. Houston Motorsports Park, Houston, Texas – March 16 1,162. Dawgwood Speedway, Chatsworth, Georgia – March 17 1,163. Toccoa Speedway, Toccoa, Georgia – March 17 1,164. Tazewell Speedway, Tazewell, Tennessee – March 18 1,165. Malden Speedway, Malden, Missouri, Tennessee – March 23 1,166. Dacosa Speedway, Byhalia, Mississippi – March 24 1,167. Swinging Bridge Raceway, Byram, Mississippi – March 24 1,168. Florence Motor Speedway, Florence, South Carolina – March 25 1,169. Foothills Raceway, Easley, South Carolina – March 30 1,170. Mileback Speedway, Gray Court, South Carolina – March 30 1,171. Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, St. Petersburg, Florida – April 1 1,172. Vegas Grand Prix, Las Vegas, Nevada – April 8 1,173. Huntsville Speedway, Huntsville, Alabama – April 13 1,174. Low Country Kartway, Aynor, South Carolina – April 14 1,175. Dillon Motor Speedway, Dillon, South Carolina – April 14 1,176. Valley Dirt Riders, Berthoud, Colorado – April 15 1,177. Antelope Valley Fairgrounds, Lancaster, California – April 22 1,178. Sertoma Speedway, Tularosa, New Mexico – April 27 1,179. Sandia Motorsports Park (outer oval), Albuquerque, New Mexico – April 28 1,180. Sandia Motorsports Park (inner oval), Albuquerque, New Mexico – April 28 1,181. Hollywood Hills Speedway, San Felipe Pueblo, New Mexico – April 29 1,182. Meridian Speedway, Meridian, Idaho – May 11 1,183. Diamond Mountain Speedway, Vernal, Utah, Idaho – May 12 1,184. Rocky Mountain Raceways (oval), Salt Lake City, Utah – May 12 1,185. Rocky Mountain Raceways (figure 8), Salt Lake City, Utah – May 12 1,186. Modoc Speedway, Modoc, South Carolina – May 18 1,187. Possum Kingdom Super Speedway, Belton, South Carolina – May 19 1,188. Laurens County Speedway, Laurens, South Carolina – May 19 1,189. Fairplex at the Los Angeles County Fairgrounds, Pomona, California – May 20 1,190. Lowes Motor Speedway (inner oval), Concord, North Carolina – May 24 1,191. Lowes Motor Speedway (road course), Concord, North Carolina – May 24 1,192. Madison International Speedway (inner oval), Oregon, Wisconsin – May 25 ** Madison International Speedway (outer oval), Oregon, Wisconsin – May 25 1,193. Thunderbird Stadium (figure 8), Bremerton, Washington – May 26 1,194. Thunderbird Stadium (oval), Bremerton, Washington – May 26 1,195. Whispering Pines Motorsports Park, Kamloops, British Columbia, Canada – May 27 1,196. Magic Valley Speedway, Twin Falls, Idaho – May 28 1,197. Owyhee Motorcycle Raceway Park, Boise, Idaho – June 1 1,198. Race City Motorsports Park, Calgary, Alberta, Canada – June 2 1,199. Edmonton International Raceway, Wetaskiwin, Alberta, Canada – June 2 1,200. Castrol Raceway, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada – June 2 ON THE WAY TO THE RACES FRIDAY Who really does this? I know I probably have the most intense travel schedule of anyone you know. However there might be one item that goes for the most part unnoticed. It’s how early I have to start these trips when I leave home from California. This morning I was backing out of my driveway at 3:02 a.m. Who does that? Construction work on California freeways happens at night from 11 p.m. until 5 a.m. If you travel during those hours you will likely encounter freeway closures. These closures take you off on the side streets for 10-15 minutes before you rejoin the freeway. That happened this morning on the way to LAX. Early morning healthy eating. As part of my healthy eating program that I often don’t stick with I stopped at Subway to grab a sandwich for the day’s trip. I presented myself to airport security at about 4:45 a.m. Unfortunately TSA PreCheck people don’t show up until 5:15 a.m. at the terminal I was using today. That meant I had to get in line with everyone else and do what “normal” folks do when they pass through security at the airport. I didn’t like. Expecting trouble. I was expecting to have trouble on my flight today. What kind of trouble? The plane I wanted to get on was overbooked by 11 passengers. I was the first standby passenger on the list. That meant I wouldn’t make it unless eleven paying passengers didn’t show up. I stopped to enjoy the benefits of my Alaska Airlines Board Room membership. I relaxed, checked a few things on the computer and calmed myself with a Diet Coke. Being a member of this airport private lounge is a special treat. I couldn’t believe my ears. When I arrived at the gate I could see there was no way I would make this flight. They were offering passengers $400 to take a flight just 15 minutes later. This flight had become overbooked overnight. Why? They decided to fly with a smaller plane. I was already considering three later flights that would get me to Edmonton, Canada. About that time I heard my name being called, “Randy Lewis? Randy Lewis?” I approached the desk and was rewarded with a first class seat! You could have knocked me over with a feather. I wasn’t prepared for that. Nice guy. I don’t often talk to my fellow passengers. Normally I am busy working on my computer. Today I spent the lion’s share of the flight talking with a fellow grandfather about the benefits and challenges of grand parenting. We both agreed it’s a pretty cool thing. A great surprise. As soon as I got off my airplane in Seattle who did I see? Our son J.J. He had just landed a plane from Las Vegas and knew I was on the flight coming in from Los Angeles. J.J. had just returned from a trip to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. As a commercial airline pilot he travels internationally, just for fun, about once a month. The acorn does not fall far from the tree. Alberta here I come. It wasn’t long before I was on my second plane of the day to Alberta, Canada. I had last been trackchasing in Canada at the back end of my 42-day trip last week. Nexus? Maybe next time. I was reminded I could save time entering and exiting Canada by being a member of the Nexus program. I stopped by their office and picked up an application. It’s only $50 for five years. However getting a personal interview along the Canadian border is difficult with my unusual schedule. No interview no Nexus. Why rent an SUV? Then I grabbed my National Car Rental SUV for my two-day trip up north. I don’t normally go with an SUV but this time it made sense for a couple of reasons. First I wouldn’t be driving far. Petrol is expensive at nearly five dollars per gallon in Canada. What was the second reason an SUV made sense? On my second night in Canada my SUV will be my “hotel”. The back of the SUV will just be fine for 4-5 hours of sleep. I hope to be flying out of Canada on an early Sunday morning airplane to return to California. THE RACING Castrol Raceway –dirt oval – Nisku, Alberta, Canada My second trip to this facility. The Castrol Raceway was located just 10 minutes from my Day’s Inn Hotel and Conference Center. That was convenient. This will be my second visit to the Castrol Raceway oval. Back in 2007 the dirt oval track became my 1,200th lifetime track to visit. However on that occasion I had arrived after dark. Tonight I was there with plenty of daylight so that I could see the full facility. Day #1 at Castrol. Tickets to World of Outlaws sprint car races are expensive. Tonight the general admission price was $40 Canadian. Reserve seating, which included three major sections in the middle of the grandstands, was $50 Canadian. I always want the best seat. I wanted a good seat. That being the case I got in the back of a long line of fans waiting to buy reserve seats. At about that time a man came up and offered to sell me one of his tickets. I asked how much. He told me “$30”. I replied with “twenty” and we settled on “twenty-five”. Folks, if you don’t ask you don’t get. Given that the reserved seat ticket price was fifty Canadian dollars tonight a savings of $25 was nice. I knew that concessions were expensive. Almost everything in Canada seems expensive to me. A can of beer was seven dollars and a 20-ounce bottle of soda was $3.50. Corn dogs were five bucks. Temperatures for tonight’s racing were going to be cool. The high for the day was in the low 60s. Tonight’s low temperature will be in the low 40s. That’s a big contrast compared to the warm summer temperatures in the U.S. right now. Two hours of “waiting” is too much waiting. I arrived at just past 6 p.m. With all of the warm-up laps, qualifying for 20 WOO winged sprint cars and the like the first race didn’t get going until 8 p.m. Tonight the track’s local late-model stock-car group was on the racing card. They brought nearly 20 cars. Their racing, especially the feature, was very good. This is why I came back to Castrol’s oval track. One of my main motivations for returning to the Castrol Raceway tonight was to see long time World of Outlaws champion Steve Kinser race. I’ve been following him since the late 70s. I’ve seen Steve Kinser win more than 50 times. I probably saw him win those 50 races by the end of the 1980s. However Steve is 60 years old now. That’s about “150 sprint car years”. Virtually no sprint car racer races at that age. Steve has been up and down the road even more than me! The best ever. Doing Steve’s 30-year career on the World of Outlaws Sprint car trail he’s won 577 career features. No one else has won half that many. He is considered by everyone in the Lewis household and by most other knowledgeable sprint car people as well to be the best sprint car racer of all time. However for about the past five years his results have declined precipitously. Nevertheless he did win a feature event earlier this year in El Paso, Texas. That shows how great the man was. The racing was pretty good. Tonight’s World of Outlaws sprint car racing consisted of three heats, a dash and a 30-lap feature event. The winner was Donnie Schatz. Donnie is the new dominant driver at this time. However I don’t believe I have ever seen him win a feature event until tonight. I don’t really care for winged sprint car racing. I have really cutback on my World of Outlaws sprint car viewing over the past couple of decades. I guess that’s for two reasons. First I’ve pretty much seen every place where the World of Outlaws sprints race so it doesn’t fit into my master trackchasing plan well. I’ve also been turned off by the lack of passing with winged sprint cars. There’s a lot of speed but not much passing. Sometimes there is almost NO passing. However tonight’s racing was very good. They raced in both the high and low grooves. There was no dust. There was lots of jockeying back-and-forth for positions on the dirt oval. Steve Kinser started about tenth and that’s where he finished. Kinser spun out in this heat. He hasn’t done that very often in his racing career. I think Steve is making the right decision to retire from full-time WOO competition after this season. AFTER THE RACES Down to the pits. After the races I went down into the pits. I don’t do that much anymore. There Steve Kinser patiently signed autographs on t-shirts, replica sprint cars and the like. This might be the last time I’ll get a chance to see him race. Good luck with the rest of your life Steve Kinser. I probably spent a good 20 minutes or so in the pit area. Then it was another 5-10 minute walk out to my car. Despite all of that there was still a huge traffic jam getting out of the parking lot. I almost never see that at a short track anymore. It brought back good memories. The Castrol Raceway is one of those “top 40” tracks that gets it. Tomorrow’s a big trackchasing day. I was back to the hotel a little bit before midnight. I was most pleased I had been able to get on the earlier flight and make it up to tonight’s race. Tomorrow I am planning on a trackchasing day/night double. Then on Sunday I’ll be home after being gone for just 48 hours or so. This will make for a very productive trip. SATURDAY Sleeping until you wake up…on your own. It was nice to sleep until I woke up. I don’t particularly care for the days where I need the alarm to wake me up for some early-morning activity. That’s why I’m in love with retirement. There are very few alarm clocks. Breakfast…but no water? I always like staying in hotels that provide a complementary hot morning breakfast. The Day’s Inn breakfast was excellent on all accounts with eggs, sausage, French toast, waffles (I love drinking raw waffle mix from a cup!) and such. When I sleep until I wake up that normal means I’m at the tail end of the breakfast rush. Today’s breakfast serving ended at 10 a.m. Then it was back to my room to get my workout gear for my 45-minute power walk. I can easily cover 3 miles during this walk. Walking doesn’t burn the calories that running does. However running is out for me because of joint pain. If you don’t walk at a fast pace you’re really not getting much benefit from walking. However I love walking at a fast pace and feel like I could walk forever. Come on. Really? Just before I left my room I attempted to get some water out of the bathroom faucet. No luck. That seemed strange and was. Then I tried the shower to see if it was working. Nope. I called the front desk to see what was up. For some unknown reason the water was not working along the entire street. That didn’t much matter right then because I was going to be gone for the better part of the next hour. Off I went on my walk amongst some rather busy Saturday morning traffic in and around downtown Leduc, a suburb of Edmonton. Yes, I was surprised. I would ask for and get a 12-noon check out. When I got back to the room from my power walk there were some strange noises going on. The bathroom faucet and shower were going full blast! Earlier when they didn’t work I didn’t think to shut off the faucets when I had tried them. Luckily for everyone involved the stoppers in both the sink and bathtub were not engaged. That would have created problems for everyone. For many years Carol and the kids and I used to go skiing over Valentine’s Day weekend in Brian Head, Utah. I have never really liked skiing all that much. Nevertheless, the kids and Carol to a lessor extent did. We always rented a condo up in the mountains. One day I was walking past the bathroom door. At just that moment the faucet handle exploded off its mount. There was no one in the bathroom at the time! Water came rushing out. We have always wondered what would have happened if no one had been in that Utah condo when the faucet came flying off like a rocket propelled grenade. TruPhone has been a valuable commodity. Using a hotel Wi-Fi connection I was able to use my iPhone app TruPhone. I use this because my carrier, AT&T, charges more than a dollar a minute for Canadian initiated phone calls. The charge with TruPhone is a miniscule one-cent per minute. The call quality is great. It’s convenient to make these calls inside my hotel with Wi-Fi using my iPhone. The conveniences of technology are everywhere and often times at little or no cost. THE RACING Castrol Raceway – road course – Nisku, Alberta, Canada A new road course doesn’t escape me for long. This afternoon I would be seeing the Northern Alberta Sports Car Club racing at the new Castrol Raceway road course. A new road course doesn’t stay on my radar screen long before I come visiting. There was a $20 admission fee for the weekend of racing. However when I showed up I couldn’t see anyone selling tickets. There appeared to be no good reason to look very hard for a ticket seller. I keep my financial eyes open. I was having a pretty good weekend in Alberta when it came to acquiring my race tickets. It looked as if I had scored the equivalent two tickets, normally priced at $70, for the unbelievably unheard of price of just $25 Canadian. Remember I am a retired pensioner living on a fixed income or something like that. Road racing is like a buffet. There were seven races on today’s afternoon schedule. They have the same plan tomorrow on Sunday. Going to a road race is a lot like walking into the nearest buffet in your hometown. The first time through you pick all your favorites. The second time through you might pick some of your favorites again and a few newbies. Maybe I will even go back a third time for dessert. O.K. who am I kidding? Of course I go back for dessert. My first walk through the paddock had me taking photographs of the best-looking cars for your viewing pleasure. Then I ran into one of the racers and he gave me the lowdown on the new Castrol Raceway road course. He also gave me some insight on what might be some future trackchasing opportunities up here in Alberta. Sitting and watching. I grabbed a seat high up in the single grandstand devoted to the road course. I was within a stone’s throw of the grandstands that overlooked the Castrol drag strip as well as the Castrol Raceway’s dirt oval. It was there that the World of Outlaws sprint cars performed last night and will again tonight. I was able to see four of the road course races. The last race I saw had only two open wheel formula type cars. There were a good deal of Mazda Miatas racing today. There were some Trans Am cars and a few odds and ends from other eras. This is a competitor sport not a spectator sport. There was no PA system or announcer. I didn’t see any concessions. Races, at most amateur road racing events, are devoted to the racer themselves and not the spectator. Nevertheless it was a bright sunny low 60s degree day. I had a good time as I always do. Track #2,009 was now in the rearview mirror. After seeing a new track tonight I may try to go back to the Castrol Raceway and catch the WOO feature event. The track is less than 5 miles from the Edmonton airport. I have a 6 a.m. Sunday morning flight. Why do such a thing? I had about an hour to kill so I drove back to the Day’s Inn parking lot. Why do that? I still had their Wi-Fi code. With Wi-Fi I could do some additional research for future events using the Internet in their parking lot. When I’m not thinking of myself as a trackchasing assassin I consider myself a trackchasing vulture. Click on the link below to see the “Video Plus” production from the racing action today.
. . . Click on the link below for a photo album from today’s trackchasing day. You can view the album slide by slide or click on the “slide show” icon for a self-guided tour of today’s trackchasing adventure. Racing and more from the new road course at the Castrol Raceway . . . Steve Kinser’s last full-time World of Outlaws season from the Castrol Raceway 
RACETRACKS VISITED IN 2007 (** not the first time to visit this track)
